Once Upon A Time
by wisdom-walks-alone
Summary: The UKO was the perfect utopia. That is, until the villains came. Between trying to fit in, to trying to stand out, there are a lot of problems for the teenagers of Olympus Academy. Love and hate clash, enemies are formed, and friendships are broken. But those are just the least of their problems. Rated T for swearing and mentions of suicide/self-harm/depression.
1. Thalia

If there was anything Thalia hated about being a princess, it would be the expectations. Of course, the itchy dresses were a problem also, but the expectations were what really annoyed her. Everyone thought that princess should be regal, have good posture, be ladylike, be elegant, etc. etc. Long story short, Thalia was none of those things. And she made a big effort to tell people that she was not some prissy, pampered royal princess.

She dyed her platinum blond hair black, wore no makeup except for the thick black liner that framed her eyes, and kept her hair messy and choppy, the exact opposite of what a princess's hair would usually be. Instead of dresses she wore torn-up jeans and a leather jacket, black combat boots instead of glass slippers, and the jewelry she wore consisted only of leather cords and silver-chained bracelets, with the occasional lip ring depending on her mood.

Needless to say, Thalia was no typical princess. But that didn't stop her brother from being the perfect prince.

Jason was everything Thalia wasn't. For starters, he was a boy, obviously. He shared Thalia's natural blondness and striking blue eyes, but the similarities ended there. Unlike Thalia, Jason had naturally tan skin, whereas she had pale skin with freckles dotting her nose and cheeks. Thalia's hair was always messy and unkempt while Jason's was always cut short and kept neat, although it was getting longer than it had ever been lately, the front long enough to sweep his forehead now. And also unlike Thalia, Jason was the perfect royal. Not just in how he presented himself, but how he carried himself. His personality was fit for responsibility, his royal blood evident.

Not that Thalia cared or anything.

Jason could inherit all the royalness their parents had to give. Thalia didn't want it.

Who were their parents, you might be asking?

Their parents were none other than the famed Cinderella and Prince Charming, who was technically a King now, and his name was technically Zeus, but everyone just called him Charming because, well, that's what he was. Besides, who wants to be called Zeus anyways? Who in their right mind would name their kid after an ancient Greek god anyway? Thalia's grandparents, apparently.

It's no wonder Thalia couldn't stand what was expected of her, what with her family being the most powerful ruling family in the United Kingdoms of Olympia (or UKO for all you lazy people out there). It was bad enough with that, but she also had to attend Olympus Academy, the most prestigious boarding school in the country (read: the school filled with the most bratty, annoying, spoiled, prissy princesses that Thalia is stuck with for the entirety of ten months every year).

The fact that Jason would make a better ruler than Thalia didn't even bother her. But she was next in line for the throne anyway, since she was, after all, two years, seven months, and nine days older than him. But who's counting?

Thalia's sudden outbreak of self-expression when she turned twelve came as a surprise to the people of the UKO, and she was immediately labeled as the rebellious, troublesome child. Jason on the other hand, was always loved by the people. With his perfect hair, perfect teeth, perfect grades, perfect personality, what wasn't to love? The only thing that wasn't perfect about Jason was his eyesight, and, according to the media, the glasses only added to his "cuteness factor." Thalia honestly didn't see it, but all those hormonal teenagers could think whatever they wanted.

Everything in their little utopia was perfect; good economy and education, no wars to fight, no villains to worry about, and everyone had their happily ever afters.

At least, that's what everyone thought. Everything started going wrong when the Villain Integration Project went into action.


	2. Nico

The island streets were bustling and full of people dressed in a mix of rags and worn leather, all most likely pre-owned by someone on the mainland since the islanders received next to nothing new. Old and used things were things they were used to on the island. It was all anyone who was part of the newer generations had ever known, so there was nothing else they were ever accustomed to anyway.

Nico hid in the shadows and nabbed anything he thought useful out of the baskets and pockets of unsuspecting passers-by, thinking it was easier, and cheaper, than actually going up to one of the market stands and buying something from the dingy salesperson. Plus, this way he wouldn't have to talk to anybody.

Nico had always prided himself on his thievery and pickpocketing skills. Never before has he ever been caught. Sure, he'd been caught in the act before, but he'd never actually been _caught caught_ , like legitimately grabbed and forced to give the item back after a quick hit and before being thrown to the floor. While Nico was a well-known thief on the island, he knew he'd never be quite as good as the son of the sea-witch. Percy Jackson always had a knack for swiping things right from under people's noses without them even noticing, so everyone knew to watch their pockets around him. But Percy always found a way anyway. He'd even managed to steal Nico's heart, which was no easy task to fulfill.

Nico tried to keep Percy out of his mind at all costs, however. Percy was a distraction, he told himself. It was wrong and a distraction from what truly mattered: being the baddest person he could be. Being evil ran in the family. His mother was the biggest, baddest, most evil villain who ever lived, after all. Maleficent was a hard example to live up to. It didn't help that he had an older sister, who was praised even more than Nico could ever hope to be. That made two shadows that he was stuck standing in, but no matter. Nico didn't care anyway. He had a reputation with the people already, so who cared if his mother was impressed? Who cared if Bianca got more attention from Mother? Who cared? Certainly not Nico, if that's what you were thinking. He was feared by most, and that was good enough, right?

The island was filled to the brim with villains and their children, and sometimes even their children's children. The island was called the Island of the Forgotten, because that's just what the villains were, forgotten. They were banished there by the mainlanders so they wouldn't have to deal with them anymore. So they could forget about them and the problems they've caused. To ensure this the island was surrounded by a huge magic sphere, dome, bubble thing, the only magic the island would ever see.

"Hey!" a girl yelled as Nico snagged a bag of stale bagels from her. He took off down the street, ignoring the girl shout after him using some pretty colorful language. That was enough for today, anyway, he thought, noticing his full pockets.

He kept running until he reached his house, or rather castle, since it technically was a castle.

Ignoring his sister's quick hello, he went straight to the kitchen to put away the stuff he'd scored from the market.

"It's nice to see you, too," Bianca called from the other room. "What'd you get from the market?"

"Food," Nico replied, not really in the mood for interactions today.

"Please, Nico," Bianca chided, "I know you grabbed some things other than food. Now tell me what you got."

Nico rolled his eyes, even though he knew she couldn't see them. "Fine," he huffed, turning around to face her. Her hair was in a braid today, the green streaks standing out against the dark almost-black purple. The style of her purple and black plaid skirt clashed with the black leather jacket she always wore, but she never really cared. She put a hand on her hip, waiting for Nico to spill.

He sighed and pulled the box of colored pencils he'd stolen from the hands of a child out of the inside pocket of his bomber jacket, mostly in good condition and already sharpened. Bianca raised a questioning eyebrow at him. Nico rolled his eyes once more, taking a small notebook from his other pocket.

"These are in almost new condition," Bianca noted, picking up the box of pencils. "I, uh, I hope you have fun coloring like a five year old." She tossed them back to Nico, who fumbled a little before gripping them in his hands.

He looked at her one last time before heading up to his room. He knew Bianca was trying not to be too nice. He didn't take it personally. Being nice just wasn't a villainy thing to do. He also knew she was trying not to show him too much affection, for fear that their mother might have been listening in or something. Love was not a very villainy thing either. Another reason Nico always pushed Percy Jackson out if his mind. Villains don't love anyone. They _can't_ love anyone.

But sometimes, Nico liked to think that somewhere, deep in her pit of a heart, Mother really did care for him, even just the slightest bit.

* * *

 **Sorry for that lazy ending - Next chapter things will start escalating, probably.**


	3. Jason

Okay, so maybe Jason seemed like a perfect prince, and maybe he kind of was. But it took a lot of work to be the prince of Olympia that everyone saw. It wasn't as effortless as he tried so hard to make it look like.

Jason was under a lot of pressure, and he hated it. Granted, he was the son of the highest ranking family in the country, so a lot of pressure was kind of something he and his sister Thalia had been born with, and it was safe to say the two of them kind of handled it pretty differently.

Thalia just sort of snapped. She tried to make it ever so obvious that she didn't like any of that princessy bullshit. After five years of only seeing her with black and sometimes multi-colored streaked hair, Jason could barely remember the girl who always kept her blond hair in two braids and wore skirts every other day. It felt kind of weird to remember that Thalia didn't always have all those piercings. There was one on her left eyebrow, one on her lip, nose, five total on her ears, and one on her belly button. Jason wondered how she'd been able to do all that without being punished severely by their parents.

And Jason? He did what he was supposed to. He wore what he was told he was supposed to wear, acted how they say he's supposed to act, did what he was supposedly supposed to do. He didn't want to been seen as a weirdo for being a prince but not acting the part. And that's exactly what he did.

He could be the best actor in drama club, if he was supposed to be in drama. But as a prince, he was supposed to play sports. He did play sports, and was the captain of the joustball team. He did enjoy it, he really did, but he felt really restricted. Jason hated that the fact he was born into a royal bloodline controlled what he could and couldn't do. He was insanely jealous of Thalia's bravery and self-respect, being able to break out of the supposed tos and stereotypical boundaries. Jealous that she could be who she was. And he hated that he didn't have the guts to do it, too.

On top of it all, he hated himself. How he let himself be controlled by the media and his peers and even his parents. How he was too much of a wimp to show who he truly was, what he actually liked, his real personality. He hated how he cried himself to sleep sometimes just fron the sheer stress of everything. He just hated it all, and he just seemed to be at the center of this hate, everything else revolving around him like planets and he was the sun.

Sometimes he felt like it would just be easier to end it, end everything. End the pain and suffering he endured alone behind a closed door, end the pressure he was put under at birth, end the life he didn't want to live.

But that wasn't what a prince was supposed to do.

* * *

 **Dun dun dun! Sorry if this seems forced. You know, I think the chapters I write just keep getting shorter and shorter. But thanks for reading!**


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